NEW DELHI: Hours before an Indian army delegation joined Chinese troops celebrating the foundation day of the People's Liberation Army at Nathu La in Sikkim, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday declared that the Doklam standoff had been resolved through "diplomatic maturity without losing any ground."
Speaking during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Swaraj said the main aim of the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan April 27-28 was to generate mutual comfort, understanding and trust between the two leaders, and all three objectives were achieved."We have resolved the Doklam issue with diplomatic maturity without losing any ground. There is no change in the status quo (on the ground). There is not an iota of change. The face-off at sight has been resolved on August 28, 2017," she said.
The Chinese defence and foreign ministers were expected to visit India this year to shore up military and people-to-people contact, while President Xi would visit India for the second informal summit at a mutually convenient time in 2019, she said. Asserting that ongoing boundary discussions dispute between Bhutan and China was a bilateral issue, she said "our concern was related only to the tri-junction area (India-Bhutan-China)," where the Indian Army and the PLA were locked in a face-off for 73 days after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from illegally building a road in the area.
Meanwhile, at the invitation of the PLA, an Indian army delegation joined Chinese troops celebrating the 91st anniversary of the foundation of the People's Liberation Army at Nathu La in Sikkim on Wednesday. After taking part in a cultural programme to mark the occasion, the Indian team reciprocated with a show of their own. The "celebrations took place in a very festive environment and provided an opportunity to both sides to display their rich culture.
Such interactions between both armies have resulted in promoting mutual understanding and contributed towards achieving common goals of peace and tranquillity along the borders," said an army release.